Overwhelmed

Nothing to update in terms of showings/previews. Mr. S. called the realtor last week and asked her to get back to him with a status report. So she sent over the head of the office, who walked in on Tuesday and left us with a list of things to do. I swear, I'm starting to dislike realtors. Every time one walks in our house more stuff gets added to our to-do list! Realtors are like parents you can never please; nothing is good enough.

I did everything our listing realtor told me to do (cleaned carpets, replaced carpets, replaced light fixtures, replaced shutters, patched holes, fixed landscaping, power washed the house, replaced toilet seat and towel rack).

And yet the head realtor had a separate and more extensive list! We're leaving for OKC for a week tomorrow, so we've been rushing around all week getting things done. Thankfully, we're both home this week, and Mr. S. took point on most of the projects.

He rented a power washer and washed the driveway, the deck, the grill, and the playground (which took the better part of a day). He arranged for a painter to come neutralize Bradford's room and touch up various spots around the house. He took every single thing off of our kitchen counters and hid the small appliances. He removed our two school desks from the playroom and put them in the basement. He took a bunch of large items to the dump. He cleaned up the basement, putting boxes on shelves and lining up larger items against the wall. He cleaned up the attic, moving everything to one side. He swept and cleaned out the garage. He arranged for us to borrow a carpet from a friend to put in the family room.

The realtor was so appalled by our master bedroom that she said we needed professional help (!) and so we have a stager coming over today. We've already decided to beg, borrow, and rent anything she tells us we need--no way we're buying anything new! She also directed us to remove a significant amount from our closet--it was about 3/4 full, and now it's less than 1/2 full.

Finally, we've had three different moving companies over to give us quotes that we can submit to Mr. S's new employer, not to mention the doctor/dental visits I squeezed in before we leave NC insurance and go on OK insurance.

Today's agenda? The painter is coming, which means we need to move Bradford's furniture into the center of the room, the stager is coming, which means we'll have a new to-do list and half a day to accomplish everything on it, the friend is coming by to drop off the rug, and did I mention we're going to OK tomorrow? For a week?

We'll have to move all of Bradford's furniture back in his place so the house is ready to show while we're gone. And pack. And clean the house. And I still need to give the key to the neighbors and print out instructions for cat-sitting.

Our flight leaves at 6am, which means we have to get everything done tonight, including the moving of the furniture. I sure hope the paint drys fast!

Wait--one more thing! I decided not to sell the crib and changing table at the consignment sale. We would have had to make at least three trips getting everything to the sale because the items were so large. And I only would have received 2/3 of my asking price, and I would've had competition (so my price would have to be lower). After thinking about it for two minutes, it just didn't make sense.

I listed the items on Craigslist yesterday and received a good number of responses. I'm only asking $125 for the set, which is a good deal, even considering the age and condition of said items. I have a couple coming to pick everything up today between 5-6pm. After they leave we'll have to move the twin bed from the basement into Anne's room and get her room ready. If they don't show up...I will not be happy.

Speaking of the consignment sale, I still need to print out my tags, cut them, hole punch them, label them, attach them to the products, and list everything in my computer. We'll be gone for a week, so I'll have 2 days to get all of this done when we return.

Did I mention I feel a lee-tle overwhelmed?

Tongue Tied

Have you ever had so much to say you couldn't get it out and so you just remained silent?

If you're wondering about the lack of posts, that's how I'm feeling lately. It's been just crazy around here getting everything ready for the move, tying up loose ends at Mr. S's former job, starting work for the current job, getting clothes ready for the consignment sale, getting ready to visit OKC on Saturday...the list goes on and on.

I have a list of things I want to post about, and it gets longer and longer every day! Hopefully once we're in OK this weekend (we're going for a week to get Mr. S's HR paperwork done and to look for rental homes) I won't have the house to distract me and I'll have some time to post.

In the meantime, I'd just like to say that I never, ever, ever want to sell a house again.

Big Boy

Bradford finished a 300 piece puzzle yesterday. It took him about 3 hours, with breaks for breakfast, playing, a trip to the park, etc. Any other puzzle and he would probably have given up. But Lightening McQueen! Piece of cake!

He's been doing 100 pieces with no trouble for awhile now, and we're very proud of him for making the leap to 300 pieces.

Amusements

I must confess, I love reading the New Yorker's review of bad movies. They're hilarious! I made Mr. S. listen while I read him the review for Transformers. You know it's gonna be good when it starts out: "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” directed by the stunningly, almost viciously, untalented Michael Bay..."

Of course, my all time favorite remains the review of 300: "300...is perhaps the nuttiest film ever to become an enormous box-office hit."

Seriously--if you're looking for laughs, browse the reviews of bad movies.

Fearless

Bradford has been having swim lessons at the Y four days a week for the past few weeks. Some days we stay afterwards and swim together, and Mr. S. was able to join us one day last week. I usually just swim with Bradford--I don't like to try to keep two kids afloat by myself. But with Mr. S. along, Anne was able to come too. It was her first time in the pool since last season, and she had a blast.

She started out without a "bubble" (a little floaty thing that straps to the kids' backs). She watched Bradford jump in the pool, and since she does whatever, he does, she jumped into my arms. "Again!" And she did it again. And again. And again. Soon she was jumping before I was ready to catch her, so I put a bubble on her.

Then she started shooing me out of the way! "I do it my selse!" She'd jump in, go under, and I'd scoop her up.

She is fearless. I'm glad I didn't try to take them both by myself!

I'm a Mac, He's a PC

We have a mixed marriage, Mr. S. and I. I've been working on converting him to my way of thinking (the right way of thinking), and he understands that our children will not be raised on...gasp!...PCs.

So you can appreciate the unjustness, the unfairness, the wrongness of this: he's getting an iPhone. An iPhone! And he doesn't even appreciate it!

All of the execs at his new job have them, so he gets one too. We were at the Apple store today and I was drooling over the 3GS while he was standing there looking flummoxed. "I don't think I can use this...It's confusing...What's the big deal, anyway?"

I'll be honest: I have been coveting the iPhone since they came out on June 29, 2007. And now that the 2nd generation phone is $99 (down from $599) with a $69.99 monthly plan (only $30 more per month than my current plan), I am tempted more than ever.

What would I do with an iPhone? Well, since I'm a homemaker without a job, I'd use it for...um...well...playing games? Let's not get into details, here, people. It's an iPhone!

Seriously, though, Macs just can't be beat. And they have funny commercials. And that's all I have to say about that.

CVS Run

Yes, I'm still here. I know the posting has been sparse, but things have really been crazy here lately. Selling the house is a ton of work, plus other things with Mr. S's job have us preoccupied. At any rate, I did manage to get to CVS today for my loot.

2 bottles Dawn $1.00 each
Used 2 $.25/1 coupons
Rec'd $1 ECBs
Total OOP: $.25 each

1 package CVS pads $.89
Rec'd $.89 ECBs
Total OOP: $0

2 Febreeze Noticeables Starter Kits $6.50 each
Used 2 $4/1 coupons
Rec'd $5 ECBs
Total OOP: $0

3 Head & Shoulders shampoo/conditioners $4.99 each
Used 1 BOGO coupon
Used 1 $2/1 coupon
Rec'd $6 ECBs
Total OOP: $.66 each

1 Colgate toothpaste $3.49 each
Used 1 $.75/1 coupon
Rec'd $2 ECBs
Total OOP: $.74

3 rolls invisible tape $1.49 each
Rec'd $4.47 ECBs
Total OOP: $0

2 packs pencils $.99
1 pencil sharpener $.99
Rec'd $2.97 ECBs
Total OOP: $0

I spent $1.71 out of pocket (using ECBs from last week and coupons) and received $22.33 in ECBs, along with my quarterly ECB rewards of $14.50, for a total of $36.83 in ECBs for next week.

I don't have a use for the Febreeze or the pencils, but they'll be sold at our garage sale. I've been picking up things at Harris Teeter and Kroger to sell as well. I have quite the little stash!

CVS Receipt

I didn't measure it, but I'm pretty sure this CVS receipt is at least 6'4". Makes me happy. :)

Thick Skin

Now that the house is on the market, people are coming through and we're getting "feedback." I have that in quotes because it's not particularly helpful.

The people who came tonight said they are "not crazy about the house needs to [sic] much work."

Excuse me? We have a recently remodeled kitchen and master bath, new carpets, almost new paint, hardwoods downstairs, crown molding, a chair rail in the dining room and kitchen....

So what exactly needs work? They didn't say, just that it needs work. Thanks. That's helpful.

But this is good--I'm sure we'll be getting lots of vague comments and lots of people will come through the house. People can hate the house--we just need one person who likes it and wants to buy it.

Again, please pray for us! I'm sure you'll be hearing that daily--we want to get to OK as soon as possible.

Selling the House

I'm beginning to get a taste of what it's going to be like selling this house. The internet photographer (I guess she takes better pictures than the realtor?) was supposed to come by today from 1:45-2:45pm. I decided to get Anne up early and put her down for a nap at noon. That way, if the realtor came at 1:45, I could have her take pictures of every other room and get Anne up at 2pm, which would still allow her a 2-hour nap.

At 1:08pm the phone rang. Would it be okay if the photographer came from 1:15-2:15 instead? Um, sure.

I just knew that meant she'd be showing up at exactly 1:15. The playroom was still messy, and I rushed around picking everything up and hiding my computer and the mail and other items.

Turns out I was wrong--she didn't show up at 1:15--she was here by 1:10. Ugh. If I had known she was coming earlier, I would have kept Anne up and put her down after she left. As it was, Anne was asleep so the photographer didn't take pictures of her room.

We have a showing tomorrow from 6:30-7:30pm, which actually works for us because we'll be having dinner with friends.

Please pray that this showing process goes smoothly and that our house sells quickly!